Massive Media Fumble: DHS 21.6 Million Rounds Purchase A Lie

Earlier this month, Infowars.com reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “is set to purchase . . . 21.6 million rounds of ammunition.” The article went on to explain how significant such a purchase would be by quoting that “during the height of active battle operations in Iraq, US soldiers used 5.5 million rounds of ammunition a month.”

The writer concluded, through “extrapolating the figures” that “DHS has purchased enough bullets over the last 10 months to wage a full scale war for almost 30 years.”

In fact, James Smith of the Prepper Podcast Network (PPN) had reported on the same solicitation two days earlier; breaking down the details of the request for purchase. Smith explained that the DHS asked for:

The actual amount mentioned in the solicitation from DHS, as Smith explains is only “240,000 rounds of ‘training’ ammunition.”

The difference between 21.6 million and 240 thousand is staggering and is explained in the inability of Infowars to understand abbreviations. When the DHS solicitation reads “MX” with reference to the bullet purchase, the letters stand for the word “thousand” not million.

Clearly the “figures” that Infowars “extrapolated” were incorrect and led to a ridiculously high number of bullets attributed to the solicitation and caused an internet panic.

The article from Infowars went viral; even being advertised on Drudge Report which contributed to the article being distributed across alternative media and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. As far as using sensationalized disinformation to coerce internet users to click on their website, this article was a huge draw.

While the loyally-branded public who read alternative media focused on this article, the truth about the DHS solicitation went unnoticed and the rudimentary math skills of the Infowars’ writing staff were ignored.